By STEVEN WINE
AP Sports Writer
MIAMI (AP) — The Miami Marlins were winning with clutch hits and relief pitching. Now they’re losing with defensive lapses.
Trouble afield cost the Marlins for the second straight game Sunday, when they twice squandered leads and lost to the Philadelphia Phillies 6-5.
The Marlins (16-14) lost for only the third time in 14 games. But they fell into fourth place in the NL East, one game behind the Phillies (18-14), who took two of three in the series.
Two defensive plays loomed large in the finale, and the Phillies twice took advantage.
"We probably helped them out a little more than we should have," Miami manager Don Mattingly said. "All the different aspects of this game kind of went south on us a little bit."
Shortstop Adeiny Hechavarria’s wild throw helped the Phillies score three runs to make it 3-all in the sixth, and the tying run was unearned.
In the seventh came another lapse, allowing the Phils to take the lead.
Odubel Herrera was at second base with one out when Cesar Hernandez hit a broken-bat grounder to first baseman Justin Bour. Pitcher Nefi Ogando covered first but had to lunge for the throw, and after tagging the base he collided with Hernandez, which sent both of them sprawling as Herrera scored standing up.
"A strange play there," Mattingly said.
The Phils trailed 3-0, took the lead and then fell behind 5-4. Tyler Goeddel, a rookie who came into the game batting .147, tied the game against David Phelps (2-2) with a two-out RBI double in the eighth, and scored on a double by Andres Blanco.
"They’re fighting," Phelps said. "They’re playing with a lot of confidence. They put a lot of scrappy at-bats together."
Philadelphia’s Aaron Nola allowed three runs in six innings, and his scoreless streak ended at 23 innings. Hector Neris (1-1) pitched 1 2/3 scoreless innings, and Jeanmar Gomez pitched around a two-out single in the ninth for his 11th save.
Miami slugger Giancarlo Stanton was rested but pinch-hit with one out in the ninth, and Gomez struck him out.
The Marlins’ Chris Johnson made the score 4-all in the seventh inning with his first homer of the season, and his second career pinch-hit homer. The hit came less than 24 hours after his error at first base was costly in a loss.
"It was good for today, but it doesn’t make me feel any better about Saturday, that’s for sure," Johnson said.
Bour drove in two runs with a single and a sacrifice fly, and Martin Prado had four hits. Justin Nicolino, making his third start of the year for Miami, allowed three runs, two earned, in six innings.
Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.